By Tosin Olatokunbo
For more than three years the CBN shied away from the demand of many Nigerians to give details of the $8 billion Mobile Telecommunication Network, MTN Nigeria money laundering saga.
But the long wait by Nigerians who are interested in the matter may finally come to end, following a judgment delivered recently by an Abuja federal high court, presided over by Justice Kolowale Omotosho ordering the apex bank to provide details of the money repatriation settlement with the telecom giant, to the Human and Environmental Development Agenda, HEDA, a human rights body.
The judgment was granted in favour of HEDA, which in 2021 dragged the CBN to court over the controversy.
Recall that MTN was fined in 2018 by the federal government for illegally repatriating over $8 billion belonging to the shareholders from Nigeria through four banks namely, Citibank, Stambic IBTC, defunct Diamond Bank and Standard Chattered bank.
MTN was later ordered by the federal government to return the money to the CBN, while the conniving banks were appropriately sanctioned by the apex bank which deducted the value of the fine directly from their deposits in its vaults.
Instructively, the CBN later went into an arbitration with MTN after the later challenged the matter in court, but failed to provide details about the deal to the public.
Following the settlement, not a few Nigerians have demanded to know the full details more importantly, after insiders alleged that national interest may have been compromised by some top CBN and government officials to get the telecom company of the hook.
In 2018, the Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and other Financial Institutions led by Senator Rafiu Ibrahim, had tried to probe both MTN and CBN over the matter, but nothing concrete came out of the probe, raising further questions on whether the National Assembly had also been compromised in other to free the foreign company from sanctions.
The suspicion became more pronounced after details of the ownership structure of the telecom firm showed that the federal government owns shares in MTN Nigeria, through the Nigeria Sovereign investment authority, NSIA. The Nigerian government is believed to own more than 18 percent shares in the company.
MTN Nigeria is owned by MTN International (Mauritius).
The federal government’s interest in the company, some say, may have been responsible for the cold feet it developed in prosecuting the firm.
According to sources in the apex bank, the federal government had midwifed a deal between the CBN and MTN which enabled the telecom firm to pay an undisclosed amount as fine for the infractions.
The fine which has yet to be made known to the public is believed to be around $800 million.
MTN should have been made to pay more, government critics insist.
The Underhand settlement appears not satisfactory to many Nigerians who are worried that the deal between CBN and MTN may not have been carried out purely on national interest.
Nigerians are demanding to know how much MTN was initially fined for the infraction, and the amount it actually paid after the out-of-court settlement, whether what MTN paid to CBN was proportional to the illegality committed.
They are also asking whether some federal government and CBN officials had received bribes in other to facilitate the deal which ensured that MTN received a slap on the wrist sanctions for a serious financial crime.
HEDA obviously went to court three years ago to clear the air on these suggestions, by demanding that the CBN be forced to provide the details of the deal as provided by the Freedom of Information Act, FOI.
The Trustees of HEDA Resource Centre had sued the respondent – CBN – in a suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1110/2021 over the apex bank’s failure to provide the information requested from it on the details of the improper repatriation of funds complaints against the telecommunication company back in 2021.
HEDA in a Motion on Notice dated and filed on February 22, 2021, sought an order of mandamus compelling the CBN to supply information requested as contained in the applicant’s request dated August 20, 2021.
The group also prayed the court for an Order of Mandamus, compelling the bank to provide the detailed information requested under the FOI. The respondent, in turn, filed a motion to strike out and/or dismiss the suit on grounds of jurisdiction.
The essence of the suit, HEDA said, was to ensure that transparency and accountability were strictly followed by the parties in the agreement, this could only be determined by revealing the terms of the deal, it argued.
On January 10, the court ordered the CBN to furnish HEDA with all the information it required.
Justice Kolawole Omotosho who made the ruling ordered: “the Respondent to supply the information requested, as contained in the Applicant’s Request dated the 20th of August, 2021 attached to the Affidavit in Support of this application as Exhibit HEDA I, to Wit: ‘The initial fine imposed on MTN Nigeria, The fine eventually paid by MTN Nigeria, The basis for the initial fine imposed on MTN Nigeria and any concession which led to a reduction of the fine; and The procedure through which the concessions were made.’”
The CBN has yet to respond to the judgement. Its spokesperson, Sidi Ali Hakama has also not responded to questions sent to her by the magazine as at the time of going to press.
